In yet another major development of traditional finance moving onto the blockchain, Japan’s Sony Bank plans to issue a US dollar-denominated crypto stablecoin next year. According to reports, Sony hopes that US customers will pay for Sony subscriptions in its stablecoin throughout its ecosystem, thereby reducing payment fees incurred through traditional payment methods – typically credit cards such as Visa and Mastercard. This is no small move.
US customers make up approximately 30% of Sony Group’s external sales, while its flagship gaming product PlayStation generates billions of dollars in sales through its online storefront. The CEO of the crypto research firm 51Insights opined that Sony’s stablecoin blockchain pivot is a bold move that puts it “at war” with Visa and Mastercard.
“The objective is explicit. Unify payments across PlayStation, Sony Music, and Sony Pictures on a proprietary rail. Here is the math that Visa and Mastercard are afraid of: “Sony generates over $85 billion in annual revenue. Approximately 30% comes from the US market. Every digital subscription and game download pays a ~2-3% interchange tax. By routing payments through its own stablecoin on its own Layer-2 (Soneium), Sony is not trying to “adopt web3.” They are attempting to reclaim hundreds of millions in pure EBITDA…
Sony is building industrial infrastructure. They do not need to court crypto natives.They have 116 million active PlayStation users. They own the hardware. They own the content. They own the distribution. And now, with Bastion handling the regulatory stack, they’re coming for the money flows.”
Sony’s strategic shift: Leaning the harsh lesson from Kodak
Sony is clearly making a strategic shift to position itself at the forefront of the next digital revolution – and presumably learning and acting on the harsh lesson from the Japanese camera giant Kodak that invented the digital camera but never took the right strategic moves to push into the digital camera sector.
Earlier this year, another Sony subsidiary, Sony Block Solutions Labs, launched its own blockchain called Soneium to position itself as a platform for digital content distribution, seeking to leverage intellectual property from Sony Pictures and Sony Music. In 2023, Sony also acquired a cryptocurrency exchange, WhaleFin, marking its entry into the centralized exchange business (CEX) for crypto trading, which are among the most profitable businesses in the world.
And now with a planned stablecoin to pay for its products, Sony is proving to be an innovative corporate giant that chooses to adapt to the times – a strategic move that most financial giants will need to make to remain relevant. Or else risk going down the dark and dead-end road of Kodak.